Rah-Eleh is an Iranian-Canadian digital and performance artist. Her work has been exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and she has been the recipient of numerous residencies and awards including a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship.

In her work, Rah-Eleh focuses on and critiques the visual stereotypes and performative aspects that shape female gender identity and Iranian ethnic identity. Her perspective is that of a Canadian-Iranian who is questioning while also trying to assert gender and cultural identity. In particular, she focuses on the performances through which individuals express such identities and critiques the value and legitimacy of identity and cultural expression.

Rah-Eleh’s body of work aims to contribute to greater social knowledge, awareness and cultural discourses surrounding the Iranian diaspora. She aims to contribute to the interdisciplinary field of contemporary art within a Canadian cultural framework and help fill the gap of research and art production surrounding the Iranian-Canadian diaspora in cultural production and scholarship.

Oreo, is a performance for the camera and YouTube tutorial parody which was completed as part of Artslant’s Georgia Fee Residency in Paris. YouTube tutorials have become a common way to disseminate and obtain information about many things including beauty. Rah uses this model to address racism and white privilege by strategically using humour and the tutorial approach to seduce the viewer as a communicative tool.

Globally, people spend money and time trying to approximate European beauty ideals. Individuals are bleaching their skin, reconstructing their eyes, noses and even changing their eye colour at the risk of going blind, to pass as “White.” The character Oreo addresses the very complex issues surrounding one’s claim to Whiteness, passing as White, societal imposition and internalization of white supremacy.

Moreover, Oreo challenges France’s and Quebec’s legislations surrounding the veil. This garment worn by women to show religious affiliation in Islamic countries is a contentious cultural and political issue and has been the subject of political repression and cultural appropriation.